BJP will complete full five-year term: Eshwarappa

Hubli, June 30 (UNI) Senior BJP leader and Karnataka Minister for Power K S Eeshwarappa today said the party would complete its full term of five years.

Talking to newsmen here, he said, ''Independent MLAs have backed us and it was impossible for any other political party either to break them or the BJP. They (other parties) have there own problems of their leaders.

''Even if at all they succeed in breaking us, we have the capacity to face it and even break them, since we have a long relation with these parties and their functioning'', he clarified.

Replying to a question, Mr Eeshwarappa said he was happy with the ministry he got as it was an opportunity to study a different department and it was also a challenge.

To another question, he said providing free power to irrigation pump (IP) sets up to 10 HP was under the consideration of the government, though it may cost the exchequer to the tune of Rs 850 crore. Of course it was not possible to provide free power to entire rural areas including domestic and to industries set up in the rural areas.

The Minister appealed to the farmers not mistake the government's decision of fixing meters to the IP sets in the state. It was intended only to take the exact account of consumption, leakage and misuse. ''Farmers are free to remove them if future governments decided to levy charge on the consumption of power for IP sets'', he said.

He announced that the government proposed to set up a unit each of biomass power generation in every district at a cost of about Rs Nine crore each. There would a subsidy of Rs Three crore per unit by the center and the state government was also considering providing subsidy to such units.